Influence of handrail height and knee joint support on sit-to-stand movement

Handrail height and knee joint support both significantly influence sit-to-stand (STS) movement. However, research on the associations between handrail height, knee joint support, and their cumulative effect on STS kinematics and changes in plantar pressure distribution during STS under different handrail heights and knee joint support is still unclear. The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of handrail height and knee joint support on the kinematics and the distribution of plantar pressure in healthy adults during STS. Twenty-six healthy adult subjects aged 23 to 58 years participated in this experiment. The subjects carried out STS movement experiments under 7 conditions: 6 experimental conditions of 3 different heights of handrail, with and without knee joint support, and 1 control condition of standing up naturally. The motions of the markers were recorded using cameras operating at 60 Hz, and total movement time, the percentage of movement time of each phase, trunk tilt angle, joint angle, plantar pressure, and the time from hindfoot to forefoot peak pressure were analyzed and compared. Handrail height significantly influences the percentage of movement time at phase I (P = .015) and the maximum trunk tilt angle (P < .05), knee joint support significantly influences the maximum trunk tilt angle and ankle angle (P = .033), and handrail height and knee joint support have an interaction on the time from hindfoot to forefoot peak pressure (P < .001). Subjects' STS performance was improved with the use of assistant devices but showed particular improvement under the condition of with knee joint support when the handrail height was middle handrail.